The Canadian men were very tight, with 1-4 crossing the line each about 30sec apart for a 14th place finish out of 27 countries, an improvement of 7 spots from the last uphill race in 2006 and 3 spots better than last year's 17th.
The core of Dylan Gant (68), Kris Swanson (73), Adrian Lambert (75) and Mark Vollmer (76) are all keen to be back next year. Brian Torrance (94) and James Richardson (110) rounded out the team and are eager for another crack at the mountains.
The women were led by veterans Carole MacClean (66) and Syl Corbett (79) with newcomers Krissy Dooling (80) and Emily Solsberg (85) helping the team to a 20th place finish. While the team lacked some of the big names from recent years (Driver, Golumbia, Faraone), it gave a chance to some newcomers to taste international competition.
Keeping it in the family, John Lambert had a strong debut as the lone junior runner. His 72nd spot was enough to make him want some more as well.
Next year the sport of mountain running will take a step up in prestige as this top international meet will begin to be known as the IAAF World Championships. This is a sign of the sport's great growth, and Canada's performances have mirrored that growth, as we've gotten better every year. Next year, top ten team performances will be the standard set by the CTMRA, the sport's governing body here. The national championships will be held in July to select the team best perpared to acheive this goal.
Official results still to come...